


Rue

by Atigoldenpanther



Category: Original Work
Genre: Love, Mental Abuse, Patrick's not that bad I swear, Soul Bond, domestic abuse, these two get much cuter i promise, trigger warning, what am I saying he was a capital D douche
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-25
Updated: 2017-12-20
Packaged: 2019-01-23 03:49:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 17,410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12498088
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Atigoldenpanther/pseuds/Atigoldenpanther
Summary: Dustin Maurizio was never really worried about who was his bonded soulmate. He was worried about school, about what he would do in the future, and how he would make it in the world. He mostly was glad that by the end of the year he would be done dealing with his bully. He would be free of the scourge that is Patrick Farley and be able to move on with his life. At least that's what Dustin thought until a chance meeting in the locker room between the two leave them both with a surprise. Now they have to pick up the pieces and find out where to go from here.





	1. Glow

It was just another Monday it seemed. The sun cast that all too familiar early morning glare off of the windows. The hallways were barely occupied due to students deciding to only just get to school before the first bell, and the smell of garbage could almost be seen wafting from his locker for the eighth time this year. Dang it, it was almost the end of the semester. Dustin Maurizio couldn’t believe that jerk had somehow gotten the code to his locker. He was sure that he had bribed the teachers to get it. Well whatever was causing the smell this time he would have to clean it out again, and he was at least glad that he kept his books and supplies at home now.

He was ripped from his grumbling mind as a loud whoop sounded down the hallway. He turned his head and gulped deeply when he saw the dreaded green jacket and peanut butter colored hair turn the corner with a snarky and triumphant smile.

“Hey there Caddy, like the little gift we left in your locker?” the mocking tone making the air heavy.

“Actually I was just about to throw it in the trash…” Dustin shakily opened his locker, grabbed the brown carton of milk sitting on the top shelf, and threw it into the can that sat on the other side of the hallway. He could tell this got on Patrick’s nerves, but the taller jock seemed to just play it cool. This usually meant trouble. Patrick’s hand slammed down on the locker and blocked Dustin from escaping, getting almost uncomfortably close.

“Aw come on Caddy! Don’t you appreciate getting gifts from someone who cares?” at this Patrick let out a loud cackle and grabbed the front of Dustin’s shirt before pulling him over to the trashcan he had thrown the milk in and successfully tossed him in. He howled with laughter again before making his way back down the hallway with a wave. “Maybe I’ll leave something nicer in your gym locker! See you in PE nerd!”

As the green jacket turned back around the corner and left Dustin to pick himself out of the trashcan he let out a long sigh. He hated how that jerk seemed to target him specifically. Dustin knew the most he could do was just try to deal with it for the final weeks of school. Then he would be off to college and away from this forsaken small town. Then came a second, happier holler down the hallway. Dustin smiled this time as he recognized the energized voice.

“Yo Dustin! What are you doing here so early on a Monday, man?” Down at the end of the hallway was the ever messy haired Cemal. He waved a paintbrush in the air before running through the length to reach where he was standing. Dustin almost detected a bounce in his step.

“You seem excited. What’s up with you Cemal?” Dustin slung his bag over his shoulder and closed his locker. He waited as Cemal opened the one next to his and began to stuff things into the already over-flowing mess.

“Well, I don’t want to relay personal details, but this weekend I got a bit of a-c-t-i-o-n!” Cemal vibrated.

“Whoa! I did not need to know that,” Dustin half-laughed and shot his friend a raised eyebrow.

“Nah bro, not like _that!_ We had the thing! We kissed and BOOM! Instant golden glow! Highest tier of relationship achieved!” Cemal shut his locker and waved his hands in front of his face for emphasis.

“Look I’m glad your chest glowed and you found your bonded Cemal, but did you really have to start the conversation with those words exactly?” Dustin rolled his eyes and started walking down the hallway with Cemal falling in step beside him.

“Hey man you’re just jealous because it hasn’t happened yet. You’ll find your bonded someday!” Cemal shrugged.

“No, I just don’t need to hear about your love life, you sap,” Dustin stopped and headed to the right towards a door labeled ‘Computer Lab’ before pushing the handle and heading inside.

“Alright, but you _do_ know you’ll find your bonded one day, right?” Cemal raised a brow at Dustin this time and he could only shrug.

“Well if it happens it happens. I’m not too worried when,” Dustin sat down at an empty computer and logged in. Cemal pulled up one of those small plastic chairs up beside him.

“Dude, finding your bonded is special. Aren’t you even a little curious who they could be? Don’t you ever wonder?” Cemal thread his fingers together as he watched the others fly across the keyboard.

“Mmm, not really. I just focus on school, it’s all I know right now,” Dustin pulled up the Auto CAD program up and began working on a new project.

“Pfft whatever man, the day it hits you you’re gonna _wish_ you had fantasies about them,” Cemal leaned back on his chair and nearly fell over when Dustin scoffed at him.

As Dustin worked on the new plans for a house in the program, his thoughts wandered. It wasn’t as if he had never thought about his bonded at all. He had just never let it take over his thoughts or plague his mind each and every day. He wanted more than just wishful thinking like the rest of his peers. Dustin knew that, like everyone in the world, he would find his bonded eventually. He had just never thought past that moment.

During lunch while he ate the peas that would escape his plastic spork, Cemal rattled on to his girlfriend as usual. Not only that, but when a gasp was heard from the other side of the cafeteria the three looked over in unison. Two girls, both who had fallen on the floor were picking themselves up from colliding, each wearing the previous lunch of the other all over their clothes. All that was forgotten when they both looked up and saw that the other was exhibiting a small purplish glow from beneath their shirts. A hesitant silence took place before they both grinned widely and squealed while hugging each other tightly, the food forgotten.

“Dang! Now isn’t that a lucky match! What a story to tell when they get home!” Cemal exclaimed as his girlfriend nodded.

“Not as romantic as our first glow though Cemi. Oh I’m going to miss you so much after I move this weekend!” She pouted. Dustin made a small gaggling sound which ended up with Cemal kicking him under the table with a laugh while soothing his girlfriend.

Dustin just finished eating after that as the couple continued to chat back and forth. He glanced at the clock and slumped a little. The next class after lunch – PE - was probably the one Dustin hated the most. He heard the bell ring and headed to the locker rooms.

Dustin opened his gym locker and sighed in relief as he saw nothing was out of place. It looked like Patrick hadn’t gotten to it yet and it might have helped that Dustin had gotten into the habit of having three different locks to change things up. However, it seemed the day wasn’t over with taunting him just yet. The door to the locker room creaked open and Dustin heard the jeers fill the room.

“Haha we are gonna knock it _out_ today! See you guys on the field tonight!” Patrick’s voice rang out and Dustin cursed his rotten luck. The door swung closed and he heard as the steps came into the locker area. Dustin pulled on his boxers and jeans as quick as he could manage. He was almost successful in pulling out his shirt from the locker as well before he could see the jock round the corner and into sight. Dustin could almost feel the smug look burning into his back as he turned.

“Well, well, well. Look at what the codex drug in here. What’s up nerd?” Patrick made his way down the narrow isle between the lockers and trapped Dustin against the wall. Dustin gulped. “Ready for another lesson? I’m going to make you regret that face you pulled this morning.”

Dustin tried to steady his breath as Patrick’s smile grew sadistic.

“So what’s going to be your beating today?” Patrick raised a hand and moved close, his eyes staring daggers into Dustin’s.

Then as Patrick was about to strike, he stopped and his smile fell. Dustin froze in shock and looked down slowly as he saw a faint red glow. He looked down not at his own chest, which he could definitely see a glowing blue, but at Patrick’s chest which was returning the favor in red. It also seemed like Patrick noticed too, because he instantly jumped away and Dustin looked up, their eyes locking.

“Oh _hell_ no!”

“Oh _hell_ no!”

They shouted in unison and a blush dusted both of their features. Taking the chance while Patrick was pulled away Dustin raced for his locker, grabbed his shirt and backpack, and sprinted for the door, racing to his next class without stopping. His chest had thankfully stopped glowing before he left the gym, but his face stayed panicked and flushed as he ran. He even passed Cemal who gave him a super confused look. Dustin finally reached a bathroom and dodged into the closest stall against the wall to breathe and calm himself.

“No, nononono there must have been some kind of mistake!” He shouted, grasping his hair and slid to the floor. His legs felt like jelly and he couldn’t get the look of Patrick’s face out of his head. There was no way that douche Patrick was his… well he couldn’t even finish the thought as a few tears leaked out.

He heard the door to the bathroom swing open and he sucked in a breath while scooting a bit closer to the side of the wall. Bright red sneakers turned the corner and walked in a little ways. Dustin knew who those shoes belonged too, and he silently moved so he would be out of sight of Patrick. Dustin covered his mouth to quiet any sounds as he shook. The sneakers nearly got closer to his stall before the door to the bathroom opened again and Patrick turned to leave quickly. Once he saw the bright yellow flip flops that Cemal refused to take off show up, Dustin let go of his breath and slumped back in relief. Apparently Cemal had heard him and came rushing over.

“Yo, Dustin! You ok man you were running like a chicken with its head cut off,” Cemal stood outside the stall for a moment before sitting down by the doorway. “What happened man?”

“I- Cemal I’m hoping to god that what happened wasn’t real,” Dustin pulled on his shirt and put his hands to his face to try and rub some of the wet away.

“Do you want to…?” Cemal left his words hanging.

“No,” Dustin sighed and stood up. He unlocked the door and saw Cemal shuffle quickly to his feet. He could see a worried face plastered over the normally happy mans face. Dustin suddenly choked up and turned back into the stall. He leaned over the toilet and started to vomit, lunch leaving him too quickly.

“Whoa dude! Easy now,” Cemal rushed in and placed a hand on Dustin’s back. Dustin spit and wiped his mouth off. He took a deep breath to try and stop shuttering as he stood.

“I, uh. I don’t feel good. I think I’m going to head home. Can you cover for me?” Dustin queried. Cemal let out a noise of confusion.

“What? Dude, you never miss class. Are you sure you’re ok?” Cemal questioned and looked his friend up and down, quickly deciding that he looked like a mess.

“Yea, really. My stomach is just… doing some flips. I think some medicine and some time to rest will help,” Dustin nodded and glanced toward the door. Cemal hesitated, but sighed and moved out of the way to follow him out of the bathroom.

“Just take care of yourself, ok? And whatever happened we can talk yea?” Cemal stuttered a bit as Dustin walked away towards the closest exit and just shook his head.

Dustin pressed against the double doors that would take him outside and kept glancing around. He took a breath and sprinted from the side of the school building toward the other side of the road. Luckily he lived literally across the street from his school. He slipped through the door quickly and ran up to his room, locking the door behind him and deciding maybe it was best to never come out again. Dustin curled up in his bed and cried freely.

When his parents got home it was already near dinner time and Dustin was still hiding out in his room fearing the worst. He had stopped crying and felt empty now. He figured it was all coming to an end. When he heard his mom call out for him it meant he would have to leave his safe space and he groaned. Maybe if he just rolled over and ignored it they would leave him alone. It seemed he would have no luck as there was a knock at the door.

“Dustin? Are you feeling ok?” His father’s voice wafted through the wood and Dustin was relieved to hear his dad’s voice. He got up and went over to the door, pulling it open.

“Yea, just a little shaken up,” He shrugged and went back over to his bed. His dad took this as an invitation to come in and sat down beside him.

“Do you want to talk about it?” His dad supplied. Dustin stumbled for a moment, but could see his father was genuinely worried.

“I uh, something bad happened today. That one kid, the one I won’t tell you about, cornered me again,” Dustin gulped as the reality settled like a weight on his chest.

“But?” His father questioned and placed a hand on Dustin’s back.

“I- we- um. Glowed. It just… happened,” Dustin stuttered out the words and his chest became tight as his eyes began to water. Why did it have to have been that butthead? His dad simply pulled him into a hug and held him tight as Dustin began to weep.

“Shh. Easy, son,” His dad sat there and hugged him until his whimpers died down enough for him to breath. He patted his dads back and they moved apart giving Dustin a chance to wipe his eyes.

“What am I going to do…?” he looked to his father for answers and only found the reflection of his own gaze.

“Your mom and I can talk to the parents, though you’ll have to tell us who this mystery bully is now. I think that boy is just as surprised as you are to be honest,” his dad settled on this answer.

“More like disgusted,” Dustin sneered and picked a bit at his nails.

“Why don’t you do some research on it all? That seems to help you when it comes to these sort of things,” his dad stood up with a huff and motioned toward the door. “Plus your mom will have dinner ready soon. Don’t want to miss that, right?” his dad smiled and Dustin returned the grin before standing.

“Yea, and dad?” Dustin gulped.

“Hm?”

“Patrick Farley,” Dustin supplied. His dad just nodded and the two left the room, heading down the stairs to the smell of roast beef and asparagus cooking. The smell sent his stomach growling. Ignoring the scent for now Dustin make his way over to the computer and logged in. When he reached the browser window he typed in the first question that came to mind.

_Can you break a soul bond?_ The responses flipped up and most of them looked pretty bad. There were sites that listed solutions to fix a bond, why doing it wasn’t a good idea, and a whole lot of websites on how it was a sin to do so. He gulped and decided to try something else.

_How to break a soul bond._ This time friendlier site addresses popped up between all of the other ones. These websites listed ways to break off a soul bond and more. It gave him a way out. Then one website in particular caught his eye. He opened it up and read the description.

_Soul bonds are the most powerful connection between two people. However, they can also be unnerving and scary for those who are experiencing them for the first time. Sometimes people find that their first glow can happen with someone they just met, or someone they’ve known but not liked for a long time. Studies done on these bonds have come back with results on how these couples managed to get along after they bonded._

Dustin saw the links listed below and clicked on them to look at the studies done on these people. He knew his predicament probably wasn’t the first one where the two people hated each other’s guts, but he still had a hard time believing it. However, the studies were pretty surprising. Each couple that had known each other for a while and had disliked each other showed significant improvement after they bonded. He pulled one hand through his hair and sat back in the chair. Those people could not have disliked each other that much. Patrick was his _enemy._ He was a snarky, pompous bully that threw him around like a discarded dishrag. There was _no way._

“Dustin time for dinner!” his mom’s voice rang out from the kitchen and Dustin quickly closed the browsers and logged out before making his way over. His mom and dad were already seated and waiting for him to join them. He sat down and he could tell his mom had that look on her face that meant she knew what had happened. Dad had ratted him out again. Dustin sighed internally and wondered why he kept trusting his dad not to tell mom. He gave him a pointed glare and the man just shrugged.

“Let’s say the lord’s prayer everyone,” his mom reached out her hand and Dustin took it, placing his other beside his plate. “Bless us lord and this food we are to eat. We pray and thank you and hope that it will keep us strong. If any may be hungry, hurt, or in need we hope you send them to us so we can share our food and the gifts you have given us. Amen.”

Hands released and Dustin started to poke at the asparagus with his fork. He stabbed a few before raising them to his mouth and taking a bite.

“So Dustin, your father tells me you had an incident again at school today?” of course his mother was getting straight to it.

“Yea. It was nothing,” he stabbed a couple more of the veggies and just rolled them around the plate.

“Nothing my butt what happened today was pretty dang important,” his father pressed and pointed his fork.

“Ok it was pretty bad, but I’m still working over it myself ok?” Dustin scowled and moved on to his roast. His parents quieted down for a moment and dropped the matter as they moved on to other topics.

The rest of the night flew by like a hazy dream as Dustin helped clean the table and do the dishes. His dad helped as his mom took some calls like usual. Once they had finished their task he quietly excused himself up to his room and lay down on his bed before pulling out a book to distract himself. He felt weird pangs of pain run up his arms and back, but they were faint and Dustin simply ignored them. Growing pains he guessed. This worked until it was time to turn off the lights and sleep. It took a while but he gratefully sank into his dreams where he knew Patrick couldn’t follow.

Dustin awoke hearing a tap at the window and rolled over in his bed. Must have been the tree again. A few more taps knocked against the glass and he groaned in annoyance. The tree outside hadn’t bothered him this much since- his eyes shot open and his mind woke up as he realized his dad had cut down the tree four years ago due to it being a nuisance. Dustin looked over at the window and saw none other but the face of _god dang it Patrick Farley was knocking on his window!_

Dustin nearly screamed and scrambled out of his bed, making his way to his door to go warn his parents. Frantic tapping at the glass stopped him and he turned. Patrick was rapidly tapping the glass and waving his hands. The look on his face was one Dustin had never seen before and it honestly scared him. He paused and frowned, shaking his head at Patrick. The peanut buttered haired man behind the window then pulled out a notebook he had brought with him and a pen. He scribbled something then stuck it against the window.

_I just want to talk._ Patrick looked a bit unnerved, if not a bit scared. Dustin wasn’t sure what to do about this and decided to grab his own notebook and handle this himself. The jock was outside and the window was locked. He didn’t pose that much of a threat right now. He scribbled his own message and held it out with a hard scowl.

_Go away._ Patrick shook his head at Dustin’s words and wrote again.

_I know you hate me but hear me out?_ Patrick even added a _please_ on the bottom.

_What, are you going to tell me to keep my mouth shut?_ Dustin practically threw the notebook at the window.

_No. I didn’t expect what happened._ The words Patrick had written pretty much mirrored Dustin’s own thoughts.

_No duh._ Dustin nervously held out his notebook and this caused Patrick to hesitate.

_I do crap things to you._ He figured this was a given but Patrick acknowledging it caught him off guard. It was Dustin’s turn to hesitate.

_Yea, you do. I don’t want this._ Dustin took a chance in writing his second phrase and he could see the shock, but understand in the others face.

_I figured. How do we fix it?_ Patrick held the note up slowly.

_I looked up some things on the internet. There’s medicine that can break bonds._ Dustin held up his note and saw a look of surprise hit Patrick’s face. Was that not what he meant? He couldn’t really have meant… no his mind must have been playing tricks on him.

_Right._ That was the only word Patrick provided and Dustin rubbed his face, still exhausted from the entire day and now this.

_Our parents are going to talk tomorrow. They’ll set up a date or something. I’m going back to bed._ With that last note Dustin tossed his notebook and pen away. Patrick just nodded and put his away too. He hesitated for a moment then pulled it out again to write a quick last note.

_Can we talk tomorrow at lunch? Locker rooms?_ Dustin didn’t know whether or not he should agree or not. Call it lack of sleep and bad judgement, but Dustin nodded his head. Patrick seemed to perk up at this and gently waved, a kindness Dustin didn’t think Patrick had in him, before moving away from his window to presumably climb down the roof and leave. Dustin just stood there a moment trying to figure out what happened. He decided it was better left for his morning brain and he fell back into his bed. Sleep seemed to come easier this time.


	2. The Meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dustin and Patrick meet, but where they end up after is a big uncertainty.

When Dustin reached the front doors of the school the next morning he pushed open the clear glass and went inside. Turning down the hall to the right to get to his locker he could see that Cemal was already there on the floor. He walked over and half-waved when Cemal caught his gaze.

“Yo man, good morning! Are you feeling better?” Cemal chirped as Dustin opened his locker to find his things untouched. He sighed.

“Yea I took some time to relax which helped, but also didn’t. I got a lot to fill you in on man,” Dustin grabbed what he needed and closed the locker. “We’ll have to talk in the library though.”

“Why the library? I have been _dying_ to know what happened yesterday!” Cemal pouted but followed as Dustin began moving.

“It’s the one place where he never goes,” Dustin smirked and Cemal instantly understood.

“Dude I knew it had something to do with that jerk!” Cemal balled his hands into fists and punched the air fiercely. Dustin laughed and when they reached the library he decided the best place to sit and stay private would be the couch near the Non-fiction where no one usually went.

“Ok, so yesterday was insane,” Dustin dropped down on the couch with Cemal following closely behind.

“Tell me everything!” Cemal leaned in and Dustin had to lean back a bit before starting.

“So yesterday when you saw me running for my life with no shirt on was because of Patrick,” Dustin began then stopped as Cemal interrupted.

“Dang it I knew it! I should have found that butt-face yesterday and taught him what for!” Cemal literally growled.

“You don’t understand though. The reason why I was running was worse than his normal stunts. He was closing in and- dang it I don’t want to think about it.” Dustin lowered his head in his hands as the scene ran through his head again.

“Dude. What happened?” Cemal’s normally over-excited personality calmed down in the moment and dropped to dead serious for his friend.

“We both _glowed,_ Cemal,” Dustin let the words leave his mouth and the second they did he saw something that would probably never happen again for his friend. Cemal froze. “That’s not even the worst part. On top of that he showed up at my _window_ last night! My parents plan to talk to his,” Dustin finished in a hushed whisper and Cemal snapped out of his stupor.

“Dude. What. The. F-” Cemal paused before he finished his sentence as his mind changed to a different question, “Yo, what happened when he came to your window?!”

“I didn’t let him in of course. I was ready to grab my parents, but…” Dustin paused.

“But _what!_ ” Cemal practically scream-whispered.

“He pulled out a notebook and we talked. He genuinely looked surprised. I’ve never seen that jerk have that expression before,” The face replayed in Dustin’s mind and he couldn’t help but wonder why he thought that the expression almost held regret. “He wants to talk face to face today at lunch in the locker room.”

“That’s a whole bunch of messed up. Dustin, you aren’t going alone right? That’s why you’re telling me?” Cemal asked pointedly.

“I don’t know, Cemal. I don’t want to face him alone, but I don’t want to drag you into this too. Besides I don’t think he’ll do anything,” Dustin rubbed the back of his head and turned his gaze away from his friend.

“And what makes you say that?” Cemal exclaimed as he forgot his inside voice and earned a loud shush from the other side of the bookshelves.

“I don’t know. I have this… feeling?” Dustin shrugged and raised his hands in the air. He truly couldn’t describe it, but it didn’t feel like Patrick meant any harm. At least not by how he acted last night.

“A feeling. You have- a feeling? _Dustin._ Dude. No, I am secretly standing outside the door to the locker rooms and listening in if I have to. I _will_ miss lunch for this,” Cemal huffed and crossed his arms. Dustin sighed as it seemed his friend had made up his mind.

“Alright fine you can listen in, but please don’t come bursting in unless I shout for help ok?” Dustin received a nod and a grunt from Cemal which he took as agreement. He was about to say something more when the first bell rung to let students know it was nearly time for class. “Dang it, I need to get to my class. I’ll see you at lunch after we talk?”

“I will practically be waiting so the door hits me in the face,” Cemal’s grin grew huge before he stood and picked up his bag. Dustin laughed and got up with him, a playful punch landing on Cemal’s shoulder.

“I’ll make sure not to hit you on my way out,” Dustin smiled and went to turn down the hallway to his first class before he felt Cemal’s hand on his shoulder.

“Dude, don’t do this unless you really want to ok? This isn’t stuff to mess around with,” Cemal held a stone cold face that shook Dustin to his core. He had seen his friend do far too many non-Cemal things today so he nodded in shock and that seemed to work as Cemal cheered up and grinned wide. He left skipping down the hall and Dustin turned to head toward first period.

Even though Dustin was not entirely excited about meeting with his bully, he did want it to happen eventually. However, he didn’t expect that it would take so _long._ The day seemed to drag on and each class felt like ten strung together. Not only that but he found it incredibly difficult to pay attention for long without his mind drifting to wonder about the meeting. Dustin couldn’t help but imagine what would happen. Would Patrick just be playing a huge joke on him and reveal it? Would he actually be trying to change? Would he try to hurt him or worse? The jerk wouldn’t go that far, would he? Now that he had thought about that Dustin couldn’t get the images out of his head and he managed to stay afraid until finally, that dreadful last bell rang in fourth period to indicate lunch. Dustin left the classroom and waiting by the doors of the cafeteria for Cemal. The shorter spunk came running down the hall only a second later with labored breath.

“I… ran… as fast… as I could! Ugh!” Cemal bent over to catch his breath.

“You could have taken your time, there was no rush,” Dustin chuckled nervously and waited as Cemal recovered.

“Yea but the longer you have to talk, the more you can tell him how much of a jerk he is!” Cemal half-smiled before standing as tall as he could and stretching. “Now let’s do this!”

Dustin laughed with less nerves holding him back and he started down the hallway with Cemal by his side. When they reached the locker rooms it was empty besides the discarded gym clothes that were forgotten on the floor from the previous period. Cemal decided to sit down the hallway a bit in a nook where he could hide. Dustin decided to take his place outside the locker room door to have a fair warning when Patrick arrived. Enough time to decide to stay or decide to throw this plan to the wind and just run.

Only a few minutes passed before Patrick turned the corner and noticed him outside the door. He had discarded his green school jacket and was simply wearing a dark red hoodie with baggy jeans. Dustin’s eyes widened at the sight of this kind of clothing. Patrick rarely dressed like this or even took off his jacket. When he did dress like this he usually was much worse and it seemed to last a couple of days before his normal jock outfit returned. Dustin almost considered running. Patrick caught Dustin’s eyes and quickly looked away. Dustin gulped and simply opened the door to the locker room and waited. Patrick squared his shoulders and quickly walked into the room. Dustin looked down the hall at Cemal, who had hidden but was still peeking around the corner, and gave him a shaky thumbs up and a nervous grin. Dustin then stepped inside the room and let the door close behind him.

When the door closed all the way Dustin finally took a few more steps into the center of the room where Patrick had sat down on one of the benches. Dustin took a seat on the one opposite of him and glared at the man.

“Ok so… what?” Dustin started and cursed internally as his voice cracked. Patrick still wouldn’t look at him.

“Like I said last night, I usually do some pretty horrible things to you. I shove expired milk in your locker, I hit you whenever I get the chance, and I constantly hate on you for just being you,” Patrick stated and Dustin nodded slowly.

“Yea I think that stuff was pretty self-explanatory. You pick on me because I’m weaker. I get it,” Dustin folded his hands together and rested them between his legs.

“What? You think I pick on you because you’re weaker than I am? This isn’t some fangirls alpha fanfiction bull crap,” Patrick retorted.

“Then why? Why the heck do you continue to harass me no matter what I do?” Dustin narrowed his eyes and his fear melted away into anger as his fists clenched.

“It’s because- I do it to- dang it I- I don’t really know Caddy…” Patrick put his face in his hands and hunched in on himself. Dustin’s hands unclenched and his brows furrowed. His enemy looked absolutely defeated.

“Why did you really want to meet?” Dustin lowered his head and stared at the floor in confusion.

“I wanted to- no, I needed to say that I was sorry. If I had known I was doing this to my… y’know. I would never have done anything. That’s no excuse though…” Patrick trailed off as his last sentence got really quiet and Dustin lifted his head angrily.

“You’re dang right it’s not an excuse! Do you know how miserable I’ve been for the past three years?! Because of you I’ve been doing everything I can to get away from this town! To get away from _you!_ ” Dustin surprised even himself with this outburst as he stood up and screamed at his tormentor. Patrick flinched away and lifted his arms up in a nearly defensive pose. Dustin composed himself, backed away, and crossed his arms. “For years I _hated_ you. Now… everything is weird. It doesn’t feel right.”

“I know,” Patrick sighed as his arms lowered and he shoved his hands into his hoodie pocket. “If you want to take the medicine… I’ll do it too. All of this just happened so suddenly.”

Dustin sat down and rubbed his eyes. He had teared up a bit in his anger and didn’t want anything to leak out.

“Yea. I think our parents will talk sometime today and figure something out,” Dustin waved one hand through the air and Patrick just nodded.

“Yea. Um this is going to sound ridiculous and I know you won’t want to try it, but can we do something?” Patrick gulped and looked at Dustin whose eyes widened.

“Uh, tell me what it is first and I’ll let you know,” Dustin queried.

“Can we… get close for a second? It’s kind of stupid and hard to believe but I need to- I need to see if it was an actual _thing,_ ” Patrick stumbled through his sentence, something Dustin had never seen him do, and he even seemed nervous. Dustin hesitated before he answered.

“Um, sure I guess,” Dustin gulped. He needed to see it again too. Maybe if they didn’t glow it meant they had seen wrong.

Patrick stood up and stepped forward a bit. Dustin copied his movement a second or two later and shuffled a bit closer to Patrick then he had ever comfortably been. He could tell that even then they still weren’t as close as they were yesterday. It was then Patrick took a big step forward and nearly came chest to chest with Dustin who ignored the screaming urge to jump back. As soon as he stepped closer, Patrick’s chest immediately began to glow a vivid red, only faintly visible behind his same-colored hoodie. Dustin gulped heavily as Patrick’s chest glowed and noticed his own was a bit late, but also sported a very faint and flickering blue glow. They stayed there for a few seconds before Patrick pulled away and coughed nervously.

“Ok, so it wasn’t a trick of the light…” He muttered and Dustin stayed right where he was, trying to breath normally again.

“I- I need to go,” Dustin finally stated and took a timid step toward the door.

“Yea…” Patrick hesitated before half reaching out and half holding back. “Come to the movies with me. Friday. I at least want to… make it up to you. Somehow.” Dustin stopped and looked back. He actually considered Patrick’s offer, and finally he nodded. Patrick did owe him a lot.

“Fine. What movie?” Dustin questioned as he reached for the doors handle.

“Uh,” Patrick took a moment to think. “Pirate’s Barrel? I’ll pay.”

“Sure,” Dustin then swung the door open and left the locker room. On the other side of the door was Cemal, who was rubbing his cheek and staring at Dustin in shock simultaneously. Dustin held out a hand and Cemal took it to stand on his feet. They silently walked down the hall and towards the lunchroom. Cemal was oddly silent and Dustin expected _something_ from his friend. He finally got that something after they went through the line and when they sat down at an empty table with their food.

“What. The. Heck. Dustin. You’re going to the movies with your _bully?!_ ” Cemal quietly, but fiercely questioned.

“I know, I know it sounds like the worst and stupidest thing to do, but you didn’t see how he was acting Cemal. It was legitimately creepy,” Dustin explained as he unwrapped his foiled burrito.

“Of-course-it-was-creepy! He was probably putting on some act and was so bad at it that it was a stiff performance!” Cemal ranted and angrily tore his burrito open to take a large bite.

“No it wasn’t an act. It was creepy _because_ he was being so sincere. He actually looked like he regrets what he’s done… when he said if he had known he was doing this to the person he’s bonded too, his face actually fell. I was kind of too angry to acknowledge it in there,” Dustin took a small bite of his food and remembered how small the normally large and outgoing man had been.

“I phik heph phaking it- I think he’s faking it all, Dustin. That guy has been a pain in your back since freshmen year. Do you really think he’d change just like that?” Cemal swallowed his food before starting his sentence again and raised an eyebrow.

“I don’t know. It won’t matter after we do this medicine thing and break the bond anyway. Besides, everyone has more than one bonded right?” Dustin poked at the corn on his plate and came to the conclusion that he wasn’t really hungry anymore.

“So then why did you agree to go to the movies with him on Friday then??” Cemal scowled and looked like a pouting child.

“Because the jerk-butt still owes me for three years of mistreatment,” Dustin smirked and Cemal just shook his head.

“So is your plan payback? That’s not really a good route to take, man,” Cemal pointed out.

“No, it’s pointless to try and get revenge. I’m kind of just really curious to see what happens,” Dustin grabbed his tray and stood.

“Man, it’s best to just leave it be. Just let it fade away, it won’t end well otherwise,” Cemal’s eyes grew sad. “This isn’t you Dustin.” Dustin merely shrugged and went to dump his tray, Cemal following behind with an empty one. As he left the lunch room Dustin couldn’t help but think that Cemal was right.

When Dustin got home after school his father was already there like usual on the couch. The most recent cop show was on and Dustin couldn’t help but peek in for a moment to see which variant his father was catching up on today. The title card of _FBI: Cali_ flashed onto the screen and Dustin rolled his eyes. His father looked over having heard Dustin enter the room and waved him over as he paused the show.

“Hey there kid, come in and sit down a sec I need to fill you in on something,” His father removed his feet from the one end of the couch and sat up straight as he grabbed some pamphlets on the table. Dustin dropped his bag next to the couch, sat down, and waited for what his dad had to say.

“I called the Farley’s yesterday evening after you went up to your room, and we talked for a little bit about what happened. They said that Patrick hadn’t said anything when he got home from school and said they would have a talk with him. They also agreed to look into some clinics to go to for medicine. Oh, and they wanted to meet Saturday, is that ok?”

“Uh, sure I guess. You said they told you he didn’t say anything to them?” Dustin questioned and wondered why this detail tugged at him.

“Yea they just said ‘when he got home he just went up to his room and was really quiet for a while’ which I guess was usual for him based on how his mother sounded,” his dad shrugged and held out the pamphlets. “I did some research on my own too on the clinics around here that would be willing to break a soul bond. Here are some of their brochures.”

Dustin took the three different papers and glanced them over. Each place seemed friendly and welcoming, but something didn’t feel quite right about what his father had said about the Farley’s.

“Thanks dad, I’ll look at them after I finish my homework. Oh- on an unrelated note, do you mind if I go out with a friend to the movies on Friday after school?” Dustin gulped and hoped his father wouldn’t get curious as to who.

“Nah, as long as you get your homework and chores done tomorrow I couldn’t care less. Just be careful?” his dad smiled and punched him playfully in the arm. Dustin smiled.

“Sure dad, I’ll be safe,” with that Dustin stood and grabbed his bag.

He dragged himself up the steps and into his room where he knew there would be no homework to get done. He closed his door, dropped his bag by his closet, and sat down at his desk to examine the difference pamphlets. The first one was a clinic on the far side of town that he didn’t know too well. It went into how it used different types of therapy to determine if the bond was worth breaking, and the different methods it did this. The second was a clinic closer to here that showed how they would test the bond strength and yet again determine if it was worth breaking. Looking at the first two pamphlets he gulped as he realized something they both explained. Apparently breaking a bond was a pretty painful experience and doing so quickly was not easy or fun for the two bonded. They explained withdrawal symptoms, longing for the other even if there was none before, and an unexpected increase in libido. Dustin didn’t really want to think about that last part. He turned his attention to the last brochure. The third was a clinic he had never heard of before, but seemed perfect and safe.

_Equine Meadows Clinic_

_Come and experience our new and revolutionary bonded bond break medicine_ Arrodipenophen. _With this daily medicine, any bond whether weak or strong can be broken in the short time of two months. No painful breakaway, no lingering feelings for the ex-bonded, and no lengthy bond test. At Equine Meadows we believe it is the choice of the bonded to break what they share, and that they will seek our doctors counseling when they believe it is needed._

The entire brochure was filled with how their process worked, and Dustin felt like this place might work best. It would take a while, but at least it wouldn’t be a painful or traumatic experience. He definitely didn’t want the symptoms of a broken bond that the other pamphlets talked about. He tossed the first two into his trash bin and pinned the one for Equine Meadows Clinic to his cork board on the wall. Now they had a plan. Now everything would end peacefully and in four days things would be solved between both families and a date chosen to go to the clinic. Dustin went over to his bed, grabbed the latest book from Saige, and picked up where he left off. Again he felt weird pangs of pain run down his back and arms, more noticeable this time. Again Dustin ignored it. Growing pains did that right? He fell asleep with the book landing on his chest, the chapter stuck in the middle of two characters turmoil over who would dare wake a dragon and possibly get their toes stepped on.


	3. Betrayal?

When Friday finally arrived Dustin was calmer than he thought he would be. He got all of his chores done the day before and the week had actually been the best he’d had since middle school. This was largely due to the fact that from Wednesday to the end of Friday Patrick had left Dustin completely alone. This was a huge surprise since Farley was much more aggressive towards him when there was a wardrobe change. He continued wearing the red hoodie throughout the week, but was extremely reserved.

On Friday afternoon just as Dustin was walking to his last class for the day he felt a tap on his shoulder. When he turned around and saw Patrick his face instinctively fell.

“Yea Farley?” Dustin looked around nervously. Patrick simple held out a piece of paper and Dustin took it. Patrick then nodded and walked away. Dustin blinked at the silence and watched as the other man wandered down the hall and into a classroom without looking back as he opened the note.

_My truck will be out back after school so we can head to the movies. Wait until people are clear, I don’t need to be seen with a nerd in my car._

Dustin rolled his eyes. _Well wasn’t that note just elegant,_ he thought. Dustin shoved the note in his pocket and headed towards his class for Chemistry.  The classroom was already filled with a decent amount of people and he could see three of the normal jocks Stevens, Bechle, and Arky standing by the near wall. They were whispering frantically about something and when they caught sight of him they immediately stopped and glared. Dustin gulped and looked around to find that the teacher wasn’t in the room yet. The jocks seemed know that too as they stood and walked over toward him.

“Yo four eyes hold up a second,” Bechle crossed his arms and held a heavy scowl on his face.

“I just want to get to my desk-,” Dustin spoke quietly and made a move to go around him before Stevens blocked him.

“You don’t leave until you give us an answer, bud,” Arky grabbed Dustin’s shirt collar and pulled him back into the center of them. “Patrick’s been acting really weird since Monday.”

“Weirder than usual,” Stevens pitched in.

“We know he went to teach you a lesson before gym class. The rest of the day and now this week he’s been leaving you alone. So what I wanna know,” Arky got in close and clutched the front of Dustin’s shirt to yank him forward aggressively. “What did you do punk?”

“N-nothing I swear! I just ran!” Dustin moved his hands to cover his face as he tried to look as innocent as possible. Even if he knew it wasn’t true.

“You’ve never just _ran_ without a few bruises four eyes. Why don’t you tell the truth?” Arky growled and raised his other fist in a threat.

“I swear I-I don’t k-know!” Dustin stuttered out and watched the threatening hand carefully. Arky shoved Dustin away from him and watched as the smaller man fell to the ground.

“If Patrick comes and tells me that you did something to him, then you are dead nerd. You hear me?” Arky stood over him and all Dustin could do was nod.

 The three jocks then stepped away, Bechle spat on him before leaving, and went to sit in their desks. Dustin wiped off the spit and stood up. He took a glance at his normal seat to find the desks the jocks had gone to were to purposefully take his normal spot. He sighed under his breath and chose the one closest to the door. At least this way he could leave the school faster once the day was over.

When the class came to an end with the teacher letting them out early, Dustin had already had his things gathered and a foot out the door before the teacher managed to say ‘have a good weekend.’ He went straight for his locker to find Cemal standing there with his arms crossed and a worried look.

“Cemal? How’d you get out of class so early?” Dustin, not noticing the look on his friends face, dodged around him and opened his locker. Before he could tell what had happened, Dustin was covered in nearly ten boxes of the cafeterias milk as the final bell rung and students left their classrooms. All of it was sour, and all of it smelled horrible. Cemal let out a shout of surprise and dropped his angry look.

“Oh my- holy heck I was gonna give you a serious friend talk, but I didn’t expect this…” Cemal gulped and tried to judge Dustin’s emotionless face.

“I… am going… To kill that bastard…” Dustin finally growled and flicked some of the milk off of his hands.

“I’ll go get some paper towels, you just sta- where are you going?!” Cemal began to back up toward the bathroom before Dustin slung his bag over his shoulder and began stalking toward the double doors.

“I’m giving him a piece of my mind. I am so _sick_ of this!” Dustin felt like his insides were on fire as he pushed his way outside and turned to head around to the back lot. Cemal watched him go and slowly closed his friend’s locker before leaving the scene of the crime to get the janitor.

When Dustin reached the back of the building Patrick was looking away and watching other students filter out slowly to leave for the weekend. Dustin growled and slowly made his soggy way to the car. When he got to Patrick he didn’t think and swung his fist. The hit connected with the side of Patrick’s face and he stumbled to the ground with a surprised grunt. When he turned to see who had the guts to punch a jock, he was met with a seething and milk-drenched nerd.

“ _YOU IGNORE ME FOR A WEEK THEN PULL THIS CRAP?”_ Dustin screamed and some of the nearby students noticed what had happened. Patrick just stared at him in shock. “ _I AM DONE WITH THIS TOWN. I AM DONE WITH THIS SCHOOL. AND I AM DONE. WITH. YOU.”_   In his blind rage Dustin let out as much anger as he could, everything seeming to be crashing in on him at once.

“I didn’t…” Patrick began but stopped. He stood and took a tentative step back from the smaller man who had just decked him. He decided to finish his sentence anyway. “Do it.”

“Do you really think I’d believe you?!” Dustin huffed and kept his fists clenched, feeling ready to fight. His eyes were burning and he finally noticed he was crying heavily. “I should have known! I can’t believe I fell for that stupid trick!”

It was then three loud jeers arose from the crowd that had gathered by the other doors. Dustin’s heart sank as he turned his head and there in the front of the staring students were Arky, Stevens, and Bechle doubling over as they hollered. In that instant what actually happened clicked in Dustin’s brain and he felt like he wanted to curl up and shrink into nothing. He stole a stiff glance at Patrick and his eyes went wide. Patrick was glaring, but it wasn’t at him. His glare was hidden under his messy bangs and pierced through them straight into his so called friends. He was stiff as if he was holding back every angry cell in his being before turning away and opening his back seat door.

 Dustin tried to shuffle away but a sharp beckon from Patrick told him to come closer. He hesitated and Patrick pulled himself out of the car holding a couple of towels. Dustin stared in awe as Patrick shoved them into his hands and the laughter from the other side of the parking lot became deathly quiet.

“I’ll just walk you home. Dry off first,” Patrick shrugged and his eyes held no malice toward Dustin.

The drenched man looked back at the crowd that had now mostly dispersed and noticed the three jocks were simply gone. He looked back to find Patrick leaning against his car with his arms shoved in his hoodie pocket and keeping his face down. Dustin quickly used the towels to wipe off a decent amount of whatever milk hadn’t soaked into his shirt. When he was done he carefully held them out and Patrick took them back only to throw them into the back of his car. He started walking and Dustin followed behind. It was only a few paces before Dustin built enough courage.

“I’m so sorry…” Dustin mumbled and Patrick stopped in front of him causing Dustin to stop short. The jock was very silent for a moment before shrugging and continuing. Dustin didn’t say anything more until they got to his house. Patrick walked with him to the door and Dustin grabbed the knob before halting and turning back to the other.

“What I did was horrible… It was meant to be a nice afternoon to hangout, but I really thought you’d...” Dustin faltered at the end and didn’t dare look at Patrick.

“I know. Want to try again Saturday?” Patrick’s words caught Dustin off guard and he finally brought his gaze to Patrick’s face. To his surprise Patrick was smiling.

“Y-Yea. Here let me give you my number,” Dustin rustled through his bag and brought out his notebook and a pen before tearing off a piece and scribbling down the numbers.

“Whoa, ok. To be honest, I never thought you’d give me your phone number…” Patrick took the paper and stuffed it in his hoodie.

“That makes two of us,” Dustin shrugged and returned a shaky and nervous smile. “See you tomorrow, I guess.”

“Yea,” Patrick turned and left down the sidewalk to presumably return to his car. Dustin stepped inside his home and made his way to his room quickly to grab clothes for a shower. While the warm water rolled over his body he ran through the earlier events in his mind. He had jumped to the conclusion that Patrick was the culprit and he didn’t even question it. His fear was surprisingly dispersed with the calmness in Patrick’s gaze when he gave Dustin the towels. Patrick’s smile when he finally looked at him at the front door was very different from how he had always know Patrick. Dustin turned his face into the water and tried to forget his stupid mistakes, the pangs of pain once again running down his shoulders and arms. Once he was done in the shower Dustin heard the door open and close again as his dads voice rang out throughout the house.

“Dustin! Are you home!” his dad shouted.

“Yea just getting out of the shower!” Dustin responded and toweled off, slipping into some pajamas. “Be down in a minute!”

When Dustin finally headed downstairs he found his father on the couch watching what looked like a rerun. He dropped down onto the couch and put his feet up on the coffee table to find out what was going on in the show.

“So how was school today? Weren’t you going to hang out with someone today?” His dad observed and pulled his attention away from the show.

“Yea, but I kin-,” Dustin stopped when they heard the sound of steps outside.

The door clicked again and Mrs. Maurizio walked in, business bag being dropped on the floor along with her heels.

“Hey boys! How was your day?” she entered the living room and dropped down on the chair nearby to rub her feet.

“Eh the usual business at construction,” Mr. Maurizio shrugged and nudged Dustin.

“I uh, kind of got ambushed by milk so I had to reschedule hanging out with someone today. The usual,” Dustin reported and his mom shook her head.

“I’m so sorry Dustin… was it Patrick Farley again? I can’t believe the nerve-” his mom started to rant but Dustin stopped her.

“No, I thought that too. He actually helped me out…” Dustin trailed off then continued. “He’s actually the one I was going to hang out with today.”

“What? Dustin, he’s been so horrible to you. Why would you agree to hang out with him?” Dustin’s father leaned forward with a worried look on his face. His mom’s face matched.

“I uh, actually owe him. I thought the milk thing was his fault when it wasn’t, so I kind of punched him…” Dustin trailed off and his mother gasped. “He was actually nice about it though. He gave me some towels to dry off and walked me home.”

“So you said you rescheduled? When?” his dad asked and seemed like he was trying to keep his voice calm.

“Um tomorrow. I guess we won’t be joining you for the meeting,” Dustin shrugged. “Sorry I didn’t really think about it.”

“Dustin are you sure you want to hang out with him tomorrow? You don’t owe him anything, dear,” his mom leaned forward and placed a hand on his knee.

“I’ll be fine mom. But… can you get the pills tomorrow? Just in case?” Dustin gulped. It was always good to have a backup plan, right?

“Of course buddy. We’ll take care of that,” his dad smiled and patted him on the back. Thankfully his parents decided to leave it at that, and the family spent the rest of the night watching reruns and eating leftovers.

◊◊◊

When morning came and it was time for Dustin’s parents to leave, he stared at the door he knew Patrick would be knocking on later and felt weird. However he couldn’t back out now. He was already handing his dad the pamphlet.

“Oh is this the place you wanted to show the Farley’s?” Mr. Maurizio examined the contents and let out a low whistle.

“Yea,” Dustin cleared his voice. His dad gave him a cautious look and shook his head.

“Ok, son. We’ll let you know when the pills are supposed to come in the mail,” Mr. Maurizio shrugged and put the pamphlet into his pocket. “See you when we get home buddy.”

“See ya,” Dustin smiled and watched his dad walk out the door, the sound of the car vrooming away faint behind the walls.

Dustin walked into the kitchen and started to make himself something for an early lunch – or late breakfast – and got halfway through cooking some eggs before there was a knock at the door. Dustin took the pan off and turned off the heat before heading into the hallway. As another knock rung out Dustin thought his dad probably left his keys again.

“Dad did you forget your-” Dustin broke off his sentence as he opened the door and saw not his father, but Patrick Farley standing there with his red hoodie and jeans.

“Uh, hey,” Patrick spoke softly and Dustin nearly shut the door in his face out of fear.

“Hey,” Dustin tried to reply smoothly but his voice cracked. He cleared it and continued, “What are you doing here so early?”

“I- uh, I wanted to see if while our parents were talking you wanted to do the movie thing now, or something else, I don’t know,” Patrick shrugged and wouldn’t meet Dustin’s gaze.

“Well the movies aren’t open today so that’s not an option. We don’t really have any DVD’s here,” Dustin shrugged then his brain remembered courtesy, “Do you want to come in?”

“Sure,” Patrick stepped into the house once Dustin moved out of the way.

“So any other ideas?” Dustin walked into the living room with the other in tow and Patrick just shrugged again.

“Do you just want to… talk?” This time Dustin got a nod and he motioned toward the couch. “So what about?”

“Uh, I don’t know. The weathers been… nice?” Patrick tried and Dustin just glared.

“Alright cut the crap, what are you doing?” Dustin scowled, and Patrick was surprised for a moment before looking away.

“To be honest, I have no clue. I came because I feel like I owe you for a lot. Now I just feel stupid,” Patrick mumbled.

“Well for one, you do owe me about three years of anxiety and fear back. Two, you’re not acting like the big bad jock you usually set yourself out to be. Heck you’re usually a menace when you wear that hoodie, but lately you’ve just been withdrawn,” Dustin listed off the strange changes that Patrick had gone through the past couple of days and almost thought he saw the other man wince.

“Try 19,” Patrick meant this to himself, but Dustin heard it anyway. Heck he could feel it through the bond.

“What do you mean?” Dustin prodded, but Patrick turned his head and glared.

“Do you really want to know why I’ve changed?” Patrick stood and Dustin gulped. Patrick held out his hand, “Then come with me. I want to show you some place.”

Dustin hesitated for a moment, but without thinking it somehow felt ok. His arm thought for him and reached out, his hand taking Patrick’s offer. Patrick looked at him with what might have been surprise.

“I need to get dressed first.”

Once Dustin had dressed he met Patrick out at his car and they took off, going past the school and into the middle of the small town. Dustin had no clue where the other man was taking him, but he still had the feeling that it was ok, and that Patrick wasn’t going to murder him in the back-woods that lay on the other side of town. As they drove into that area Dustin became less sure. Finally Patrick pulled over by the bridge that spanned across the small creek running through the woods and turned off the truck.

“Uh, no murder plans right?” Dustin joked weakly, but he knew his laugh gave him away.

“What? No! Dude, that would be horrible and definitely not worth going to jail for,” Patrick retorted and got out of the car. Dustin decided to follow suit, feeling only a bit safer.

The two walked halfway across the bridge before Patrick stopped and leaned against the stone wall running along the edge. He gazed out and Dustin looked down. The creek was pretty far down, and was never too big this time of year. It was true now that the creek was much more of a stream. Down a little ways an old house jutted out of the woods and nearly blocked the streams path where it was now. If the water was where it normally was, then the creek would be hitting the house constantly. Dustin faintly recalled his parents telling him not to swim around the house when the creek was full if he didn’t want to get sucked under.

“So… you wanted to show me the old creek house? I’ve been here before,” Dustin raised an eye brow at Patrick.

“No, I wanted to show you the place I came to just… be alone. Or be myself. To get away from my family.” Patrick had a small smile on his face. Dustin was surprised how good it looked on him, and realized he had never seen his past tormentor look this content.

“Why did you bring me here…?” Dustin couldn’t piece anything together.

“This is going to sound crazy, but I want to give this thing a shot,” Patrick turned and looked at Dustin, the smile never leaving his face.

“W-what? But I thought you hated me?!” Dustin’s eyes widened in shock and he faltered.

“I never hated you. I was just always jealous… you were going to go so far. Get out of this stupid town! Go somewhere better. My entire life that’s all I wanted to do,” Patrick turned back toward the creek and leaned against the wall.

“Then why didn’t you? Why don’t you?” Dustin also leaned on the wall next to him. “This bond - us - I can’t see it ending well. With how I know you act and how you know I am- jocks and nerds don’t just get along. I figured that out years ago,” Dustin sighed and remembered that first day of freshmen year.

“Why can’t we just throw that all to the wind? I was stupid. I let my own fears and pain land on you. Other people. Now that we’re… bonded, like I said if I had known- I- I just want- ugh!” Patrick tried to gesture and say his statement, but the words were lost on him and his frustration grew. Finally he just folded him arms and looked away.

“Why… why didn’t you just walk away yesterday?” Dustin questioned, and it caught Patrick off guard.

“What?” Patrick finally turned back to him.

“When I punched you and yelled at you, why didn’t you walk away?” Dustin stood straight and crossed his arms.

“Because I deserved it,” Patrick huffed and Dustin just glared.

“No one deserves to be punched no matter how much of a jerk they’ve been,” Dustin noted.

“I do,” Patrick stood straight and rubbed his arms lightly.

“Why?!” Dustin sputtered. He knew they were enemies, but violence never solved anything.

“Three years,” Patrick stated and returned Dustin’s glare.

“I just… I didn’t think we were even compatible. How this ever happened…” Dustin turned and missed as Patrick tensed and lowered his gaze, opting to stare at his feet instead.

“You’re right… I don’t know why I tried to- it was stupid. Let’s go back,” Patrick turned and went to walk past Dustin.

“Wait-” Dustin spouted out and held out his arm on a whim, and he couldn’t really tell why. “This is going to sound stupid too but- I do… maybe we should try. The past three years were crap. Maybe it’s time to fix things-”

“-And this might be the way?” Patrick finished his sentence in a low voice, his eyes wide and somewhat watery. Dustin could feel the tightness in his chest through the bond and his eyes began to water too. Dustin lowered his arm halfway and held it out, offering his hand. Patrick looked at it once, and reached out both of his pulling Dustin into a hug. It was surprising, but Dustin returned it and held on. The two could faintly see the purple glow between their chests. It was a while before they pulled apart and Patrick coughed nervously.

“So, what are we going to do once that medicine comes in? Do we want to try it or…?” Patrick let his words hang considering they both knew what the other path was.

“I feel like we should keep them on hand just in case. That way if we decide not to do this… well then at least we have it,” Dustin reasoned and Patrick nodded.

“Sounds reasonable. Want to head back?” Patrick slowly started to make his way to his truck with Dustin in tow.

“Yea, I left eggs on the counter. They’re probably cold by now,” Dustin shrugged.

“Gross, man,” Patrick laughed as they both got into the truck and sped down the road.


	4. Turning Point

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things get better. Then they get worse.

When Monday finally came around, Dustin was nearly tackled by Cemal as he walked through the doors. The smaller man dragging him straight to the library and rambled on.

“Dude you have so much to tell me! You better start with the beginning and use every last detail! I heard about the incident Friday – heh who am I kidding the entire school is talking about it – and now you have _got_ to tell me what happened!!” Cemal quickly fell down onto the couch among the bookshelves and patted the seat. “Well?!”

Dustin laughed and set down his bag before sitting down. He could tell Cemal was about to bounce off the walls if he didn’t say something soon.

“Well after I punched him he kind of… walked me home,” Dustin started but didn’t get far until he was interrupted.

“What?! He wasn’t angry or anything?” Cemal gawked.

“No he actually seemed kind of… ok with all of it. When our parents met he showed up at my house so we could do something then instead, and we ended up by the bridge on the other side of town,” Dustin relayed the events of the previous weekend with Cemal continuing to interrupt and just be amazed in general. “So we both kind of decided to give this a chance, I guess.”

“WHAT?” Cemal practically shouted and a ‘shush’ came from the other side of the room along with a glare from the librarian. Cemal cleared his voice and continued normally, “Why are you giving this guy any chance?”

“Because I… I want to try and fix things. He said he wanted to do the same thing. We’ll always have the last three years to regret, but what if we can work this out, Cemal?” Dustin reasoned and crossed his arms. All he knew was that it felt like the right path to take.

“Just- don’t be stupid about this ok? At least let me tag along for a while to make sure he’s not a jerk or anything,” Cemal waved his hands in the air to emphasis his point.

“Alright, I think I’m going to ask him to join us for lunch. We can both try to get to know him better,” Dustin shrugged and stood up to grab his bag.

“I just still can’t believe you’re giving him a chance, dude,” Cemal stated and followed him as they left for homeroom.

The first couple of periods flew by easily enough. English was the same and so was math. The only difference with today is Dustin couldn’t get the thought of lunch out of his head. He actually felt eager to get there, and he felt like he could feel the same thing through the bond, but a lot stronger. Dustin couldn’t help but wonder if Patrick felt the same.

Lunch eventually did arrive and Dustin waited for Cemal by the lunchroom doors as usual. The two met and Cemal started to head towards the line before Dustin grabbed him.

“Hold up, I want to wait for him too,” Dustin said and Cemal blinked.

“Alright, but if he pulls anything…” Cemal huffed and Dustin laughed.

“He won’t,” Dustin smirked and gave Cemal a playful shove, it being returned by Cemal soon after.

They didn’t have to wait long as Patrick rounded the corner and saw them, a look of surprise on his face. He walked over and smiled the same smile from Saturday night.

“Hey, what’s up?” Patrick questioned and Dustin shrugged.

“I was waiting to see if you wanted to have lunch with us. Uh, Cemal and I,” Dustin smiled back and motioned toward Cemal who had his arms crossed.

“Uh, sure that sounds good,” Patrick turned to head toward the line and the two followed.

“So you’re buddies over at the jock table will have no problem with this, dude?” Cemal raised an eye brow at him and Patrick looked away for a moment.

“After, uh, Friday they kind of showed up at my house and told me I’m basically banned from everything jock related. They can’t kick me off the team, but the coach was giving me a weird look this morning. It’s no big deal, they’re jerks anyway,” Patrick stuffed his hands in his hoodie pocket and leaned against the wall, shifting every time the line moved.

“Patrick that’s- that really sucks. I thought they were your friends!” Dustin was surprised. Usually the jocks had each other’s back even if they were abusive bullies.

“Yea those guys sound like super jerks! Much more than usual,” Cemal frowned.

“Well apparently not anymore. Like I said its fine,” Patrick looked back and returned to his tiny smile. “The year is ending soon anyway and I already had some scouts single me out. I’ll have college opportunities rolling in by next month.”

“Well I’m glad you at least have a plan for after high school,” Dustin stated nonchalantly. Just then Dustin felt a hand fall heavily onto his shoulder and saw Patrick stiffen. Cemal raised his fists and looked ready to fight.

“Well look at this! It seems that the outcast is getting along with the nerd and spaz now!” Dustin recognized the voice as Arky’s and tried to move away but was held in place.

“Let him go Arkens,” Patrick’s face darkened and he stood tall and steady.

“What? Don’t you wanna have fun like old times? Let’s show these two who are the bosses around here. Want back on our side Farley?” Bechle chuckled from behind Arky. Patrick simply walked over with the darkest glare in his eye and Dustin could swear electricity was sparking in the air.

“I’d choose my bonded over you any day,” He put his hand on Arky’s, grabbed the fingers, and pushed the other jock back. Dustin was pulled back by the force for a moment before he felt another hand around his shoulder to keep him steady. Arky stumbled back with shock on his face at the news and was nearly caught by Stevens and Bechle. Patrick moved Dustin behind him, and cracked his knuckles.

“You want to take this further, Arkens?” Patrick glared death at the three other jocks.

“I can’t believe it… You’re bonded to this nerd! Just know that the second your little _bonded_ is alone he’s getting the snot beat out of him,” Arky growled.

“Yea, nerd. See you in seventh period,” Stevens chuckled darkly and the three sauntered out of the cafeteria.

“Wow. That was… dude, you saved my man,” Cemal whistled low and patted the former jock on the back.

“I- it was nothing…” Patrick sighed and turned to Dustin with a worried look. “Are you ok?”

“I’m fine, just a little shaken up. I never would have expected you to- you called me your- Thank you…” Dustin gulped and reached out a hand to Patrick who took it and was drawn into a surprise hug. Cemal choked back a laugh as Patrick flushed a little before returning the gesture.

“So this is sweet and all, but what are we going to do about your last class dude? Those three are gonna mess you up if they get the chance. We should also avoid your locker today too,” Cemal counted off on his finger as he made his point and the two pulled apart to grab trays for food as they reached the front of the line.

“I always get out of seventh early since it’s just a strategies class. The teacher doesn’t really care if we leave early or not. I can wait for you at your class,” Patrick supplied as he filled his tray up.

“Sounds good to me,” Dustin grabbed his milk and turned to Cemal. “What about you?”

“Detention again. Sorry dude,” Cemal shrugged and Dustin laughed.

“What did you do this time?” Dustin snorted.

“I may have rigged my second period classroom door with party poppers for when the teacher came in. How was I supposed to know Mr. Blanc had sensitive hearing?” Cemal smirked and the other two chuckled as they all headed to a table.

When lunch finally ended it was time for Cemal to split off of the group and he left for art class with a skip in his step. Patrick and Dustin both stuck together throughout gym class and once they had to split up they gave a small hug goodbye before splitting off into sixth period. Before Dustin knew it, the bell rang and it was time for him to once again face the threatening trio in his last class. Surprisingly when he walked in they were nowhere to be found. When the class came to an end with no sight of them still, Dustin left the classroom and saw Patrick leaning against the wall waiting. He smiled when he spotted Dustin across the hall.

“Did the class go ok?” Patrick asked and moved to follow him down the hall towards his locker.

“Yea they actually weren’t there at all,” Dustin smiled and wondered if that meant their threat was an empty one.

“I think I know why…” Patrick suddenly frowned and pointed down the hall. Halfway down from the exit doors was Dustin’s locker, the entire thing covered with spray paint and nasty images. Hurtful words were painted on all of it, and the smell coming from it was like something had curled up and died in it.

“Really…?” Dustin ran a hand over his face and shook his head.

“I swear I’ll knock those morons into next month!” Patrick growled and threw his hands into the air in a rage. Some students passing nearby flinched away to avoid any impending rampage.

“It’s- its fine Patrick. I didn’t have anything important in there anyway. I’ll just go ask the janitor to clean it out,” Dustin shrugged and Patrick followed in shock.

“Why aren’t you angry about this? You punched me for the milk- they deserve to get what’s coming to them!” Patrick huffed.

“It’s not worth it. If I retaliate then they’ll just hit harder,” Dustin looked away and just kept walking.

“Dustin, sometimes you’ve got to fight,” Patrick tried to reason as Dustin knocked on the door to the janitor’s closet.

“Now’s just not that time- Oh hey Mrs. Elco,” Dustin turned his head mid-sentence to greet the janitor as she stepped out and smiled at the two.

“Well hey there Dustin! Did your locker get bombed again?” Mrs. Elco grinned widely and leaned down to meet his eye level.

“Yea. It kind of smells like death…” Dustin smiled and the janitor waved a hand in front of her face.

“So that’s what’s making that nasty smell?? Well don’t you worry dear I am armed to the teeth with air freshener and sanitizer. I’ll take care of it for you,” Mrs. Elco patted Dustin on the shoulder and returned into the janitor’s closet. Dustin gave a quick goodbye before heading back down the hallway to the doors to leave.

“She was really nice,” Patrick noted. “I don’t think I’ve ever met our janitor.”

“Yea, she’s been helping me since the beginning of high school. She’s pretty sweet,” Dustin smiled and remembered how she’d listen to him rant about all the things that had been done to his locker.

“I feel even worse now, I’ve been making her life harder too haven’t I…?” Patrick looked behind him at the door and his face fell.

“Hey, don’t worry about it. You want to go do something today? The movies are open,” Dustin tried to distract the other and it seemed to work.

The two left the school as they talked about what they could do in their small town – which wasn’t very much it turned out – and they opted to head over to the bridge and explore the area around the creek a bit. The dirt was still thick from rain the previous month and Dustin remembered the forecast was calling for more tomorrow. They opted to sit on the bank and throw some rocks into the trickling stream.

“So… what’s your family like? Your mom and dad?” Patrick broke the silence and gazed over at Dustin curiously.

“Well, my dad is kind of a stay at home guy. He sometimes helps the construction companies’ blueprint their stuff, but he’s just the inspector mostly. He’s also the weirdest guy I’ve ever met beside Cemal. My mom works at one of the law firms in town and is pretty good at it. She’s done a lot of cases. She’s also really nice, but way too religious for me sometimes,” Dustin recalled the details of his parents with a smile. “What about yours?”

“My mom’s the stay at home for us. Traditional nuclear family and all. Dad’s a contractor,” Patrick stated bluntly.

“Not a fan of your parents much?” Dustin threw a rock before laying back onto the bank and resting his head on his hands.

“Not really. I love them but- sometimes they can be too much,” Patrick’s face held an odd look and he joined Dustin on the ground to gaze at the sky through the trees.

“Yea I get that,” Dustin shrugged and turned his head to look at Patrick.

Just like the past weekend the hoodie-wearing man looked relaxed as he breathed deeply. Dustin realized he was seeing an entirely new side to Patrick than before. Maybe if he took a leap of faith… Dustin reached out his hand shakily and placed it on top of Patrick’s without looking at him. He waited as Patrick hesitated then twined his fingers in between Dustin’s.

“Is this… ok?” Dustin breathed.

“Yea… I think it is,” Patrick let out a long sigh and for once, Dustin could actually feel calmness coming through the bond. It was radiating off of him and Dustin just lay there and felt it. Soon Patrick began to feel the same feeling come back through. The two stayed like that for a long time until the sun began to set and the sky turned a brilliant orange. The feeling of calm was still going strong through the bond and the two had moved and spoke little in the past hour.

Suddenly the crunch of leaves nearby caused the feeling to stop and the two to sit up to find the source. Dustin didn’t get a chance to get a good look before Patrick was flung into him and knocked him back down onto the ground.

“Aww how sweet! The two lovebirds are actually getting along for once!” Arky cackled and grabbed Patrick again as Stevens and Bechle grabbed Dustin to hold him down.

“We gotta keep our promises Farley, and most definitely our threats. Did you really think we’d just leave you two alone?” Arky’s smirk was sadistic as he pushed Patrick down onto the ground and held him there.

“Get off me you jerk!!” Patrick thrashed to no avail and tried to swing at Arky who just dodged.

“You get enough bruises on your own… why don’t we let your little bonded have a turn, hm?” Arky cackled again and nodded at Stevens and Bechle.

 Dustin struggled the best he could but knew he couldn’t get through two of the heaviest set guys in the school. Stevens tossed him forward onto his stomach and Dustin cried out as a punch landed on his shoulder. He barely heard a cry come from Patrick as the pain traveled through the connection and seeming to hit the other as well. Dustin turned as best he could in shock to see that Patrick was holding his shoulder while trying to get a grasp on Arky. He only had a glance as more blows hit him and he tried to curl up to protect what he could. The pain kept coming and each blow echoed just like the others cries of pain. Finally a last kick hit Dustin’s stomach and knocked the breath out of him. He gasped and coughed, faintly hearing the laughter of Stevens and Bechle as they finally stopped.

Dustin turned to hazily look at Patrick who had stopped struggling to deal with his own shortness of breath from the connected blow. He tried to take a deep breath but couldn’t seem to get any air down. Arky also let go of Patrick and walked over to where Dustin was, grabbing his shirt collar and forcing him up.

“Must feel nice to have someone share the pain this time, huh Caddy?” Arky smirked and moved to the side so Dustin had a view of Patrick. “This is what happens when you mess with one of us, and when one of our own is a traitor. Enjoy the nerd treatment Farley.”

With one last punch to Dustin’s face Arky let him go and walked away, Stevens and Bechle cackling right behind him. Dustin finally caught his breath and gasped deeply. He tried to stumble to his feet to reach Patrick, but stopped when he realized Patrick was already by his side and helping him up.

“Easy…” Patrick said softly and helped Dustin over to a nearby tree to steady them both.

“How did you…?” Dustin started but Patrick had already started answering.

“I normally take a beating from football. Don’t worry about it,” Patrick stated quickly and huffed as they reached the tree.

“I’m sorry I got you into this,” Dustin breathed out.

“It’s not your fault. To be honest I kind of deserve it. Not you being in pain but- me feeling it too is kind of like karma hitting me in the face a little bit,” Patrick chuckled dryly and winced as pain shot through his spine.

“No one,” Dustin gulped but made his words sharp. “Deserves anything like that.”

Patrick just looked away and Dustin tried to read any emotion, but he couldn’t see his face, and he couldn’t feel anything through the bond anymore.

“Come on, I should probably get you home,” Patrick finally said and put his arm around Dustin for support, the two of them wobbling back to his truck. The entire way to Dustin’s home the ride was silent, and when they finally got there Patrick helped him to the door without a word. Finally Dustin broke the silence.

“See you tomorrow…?” Dustin turned and smiled weakly at Patrick who simply nodded and lightly hugged him. Dustin leaned in to it and noted the faint glow between. He pulled away and opened the door, waving at Patrick before closing it again.

Dustin put his back to the door and let out a heavy sigh before catching it halfway and listened close to see if his parents had heard. It suddenly hit him what time it actually was and that he hadn’t told his parents where he’d be at all. He gulped and inched his way toward the stairs and luckily made it to his room with no incident. That is until he heard a knock on the door.

“Dustin is that you? Why are you home so late?” The door handle jiggled and Dustin thanked his lucky stars he locked it when he heard his mom on the other side.

“I’m fine mom, just got distracted. I’m sorry I didn’t call to let you know,” Dustin responded and winced as he pulled off his shirt to check the damage. He could still feel blood running down his cheek from somewhere.

“Dustin, can we talk? Please honey open the door,” his mom pleaded and Dustin nearly went over to open the door, but stopped and shook his head. He knew the kind of fit she’d throw once she saw him like this again.

“Um, maybe later mom. I need to relax and… get some homework done,” Dustin gulped. Homework was a good excuse right?

“Please honey, homework can wait,” his mom tried again and he sighed.

“Can I keep the door closed?” Dustin figured if he just told her what happened and that it was handled she would leave it at that.

“Ok. What happened tonight?” his mom spoke softly and it sounded like she was closer to the ground as if she had sat down.

“Well I ended up hanging out with Patrick again today. I was going to call and tell you, but I kind of got distracted by… something,” Dustin decided to join her on the floor and leaned against the door.

“And what was that?” his mom prodded.

“The other jocks did stuff to my locker. I asked Mrs. Elco for help again,” Dustin recounted. “We hung out by the bridge on the other side of town. The jocks kind of followed us there and uh- well. You know.”

“Oh no honey! Why didn’t you call for me to come pick you up? Is Patrick ok too? He must have felt that too since you’re both…” his mom trailed off and Dustin winced at the memory of how hurt Patrick looked without bruises to show for it.

“He drove me home. He said he was use to this kind of pain from football,” Dustin gulped.

“I see. I’m so sorry you got hurt hun… Do you know who those boys were?” his mom asked and Dustin immediately knew she was looking for names.

“No, they never mention their names. They’re just a part of the football team like Patrick,” Dustin lied.

“Ok honey… I’m just glad you’re home safe. If you ever need to talk…” his mom started and Dustin cut her off.

“I’ll be fine mom, I know,” Dustin felt bad as he heard her get up and leave, but this issue was his to deal with. He would always trust his parent’s judgement even if he felt like they would never know the whole story. Dustin stood from the floor and winced a bit from his wounds. He grabbed some clothes and slipped out of his room to the bathroom to hit the shower. Washing off felt better and when he returned to his room he was greeted by a surprise.


	5. The Dinner

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Patrick visits Dustin at his home and gets invited to dinner.

A tapping sound came from his window once Dustin closed his door, and he turned his head to see Patrick. Dustin went over and picked up a notebook on the way, jotting down a quick note.

_What’s up?_ Dustin placed the note to his window and he saw Patrick smile before pulling out his phone and typing something on there before placing it on the window.

_Wanted to see if you could to talk for a minute. Didn’t bring paper like an idiot._ Patrick’s smile grew bigger. Dustin caught it and grinned too as he placed another message on the glass.

_Nice. Why the sudden visit? We just hung out earlier._ Dustin saw Patrick’s smile falter and quickly read the message he placed up.

_Wanted to make up for the end of it. Also wanted to get some things off my chest._ Patrick pulled his phone away from the window as Dustin leaned away and thought for a moment. Something in Patrick’s eyes made Dustin decide that it was really important.

_Ok. Gonna change. Don’t look._ Dustin pulled the notebook away as Patrick gave him a thumbs up and disappeared from view.

Dustin pulled on some warm clothes and his shoes before opening his window and stepping out onto the slanted roofing. Patrick was sitting on the end facing his backyard and staring out at the houses that seemed to go for miles in that direction. Dustin walked over and tapped him on the shoulder before sitting down beside him.

“What’s up?” Dustin asked and Patrick laughed.

“You already said that,” Patrick snorted.

“Pfft I know shut up. I was asking it because you said you had something to get off your chest!” Dustin huffed and crossed his arms as Patrick slowly calmed down.

“Haha, ok ok. I actually wanted to ask you something kind of… personal I guess? You don’t have to answer if you don’t want,” Patrick turned his gaze back toward the houses and seemed nervous.

“Um, ok,” Dustin gulped and waited.

“Are you afraid of me?” Patrick didn’t turn to look at Dustin as he lowered his head, his bangs covering his eyes. Dustin hesitated for a moment and thought about it. However his hesitation seemed to send the wrong message as he noticed a tear roll down Patrick’s cheek.

“Hey, easy,” Dustin placed his hand on Patrick’s to try to comfort him. “I was a while ago, but now… I feel like all of that just faded away. It’s not like it never happened, but I know why now. I feel like those three years was just a serious of misunderstandings.”

“I was such a horrible person… When I was a kid I always had this fear that I didn’t want to lose my bonded. That once I found them I would do everything I could to make them happy. Then I find out I probably messed it all up long before I could even have the chance to know you… you hated me. You were afraid of me!” Patrick half laughed and half sobbed. “You probably still are and just can’t say it.”

“No, not any more. You started trying to make things better! Heck, you’re succeeding in doing just that. I stopped being afraid the first time we visited the bridge,” Dustin shifted and wrapped his arms around Patrick in a sideways hug. It was returned lightly as Patrick hung on to the arm on his front.

“What are we gonna do after…?” Patrick asked after a while and let go of Dustin’s arm to wipe his eyes.

“I don’t know. Do you want to try staying together or maybe split up for a while to pursue our careers? I have no idea which college I’m even going too. There’s still time to choose,” Dustin weighed the options in his head as he let go and sat forward once more. “What were your plans before all of this?”

“Well, to be honest I didn’t really have anything solid to begin with. Once the college requests came in I was going to see which once was the best and go there. That’s pretty much it,” Patrick stated bluntly. “What about you?”

“I have a couple picked out for architecture. Though I haven’t sent them any letters yet,” Dustin kicked his feet back and forth as a thought came to his mind. “What if we compare and see if any of them match once they come in? Then if we want to we can go to the same college.”

“That would be pretty cool,” Patrick nodded. “It would also give me more time to make things up to you.”

“Patrick…” Dustin turned toward him and Patrick did the same, wearing that small smile. “You don’t have to make it up to me. I just want to move forward as we are. I… I forgive you.”

Patrick’s eyes welled up again and he covered his mouth with his hand. Dustin pulled him into another hug with a laugh and held him close. Patrick squeezed him as best as he could. He could see the bright purple glow coming strongly from the both of them and he sighed, feeling a weight lift from his heart. Patrick eventually pulled away and wiped his eyes again.

“I guess I better tell my parents I don’t plan on taking that medicine,” Patrick chuckled and Dustin joined.

“Yea, I’ll just throw the bottle I got into the trash. I hope my parents don’t mind the money loss,” Dustin grinned. “Let’s tell our parents together. We can tell them tomorrow and mine tonight.”

“Are you sure? It’s pretty late. Are they already asleep?” Patrick questioned.

“Nah we usually have dinner pretty late. Come on, now that it’s close to eight it should be about ready,” Dustin stood and helped Patrick up and toward his window.

“Uh, won’t your parents be freaked out with me just showing up in your room?” Patrick asked and Dustin face-palmed.

“Crud. Well you can head to the front door and I can say I invited you for dinner,” Dustin shrugged.

“Alright then, I just hope they don’t mind the sudden intrusion,” Patrick made his way to the edge of the room to climb down.

Dustin crawled through the window back into his bedroom and quickly went downstairs to find his parents already at the table. His mom had set out enough plates for the three of them and was halfway through the prayer when he entered.

“Bless us lord and this food we are to eat. We pray and thank you and hope that it will keep us strong. If any may be hungry, hurt, or in need, we hope you send them to us- oh my goodness Dustin what happened to your cheek!” his mom yelped in surprise and stood up to come inspect him. His dad stood and joined her.

“I already told you what happened mom, I’m fine. I came down for dinner and to tell you we’re going to-.” Dustin waved his moms searching hands away and started to tell them before a knock was heard at the door.

“I’ll get it,” his dad said and Dustin followed behind to sit on the steps. His mom went back to her seat at the table and sighed. Mr. Maurizio opened the door to see Patrick standing there as he waved awkwardly.

“Um, hi there Mr. Maurizio. We haven’t met yet but I’m Patrick,” Patrick shifted his gaze between Dustin and Dustin’s father who had a confused look on his face.

“Hello there Patrick, what brings you to our house so late tonight?” Mr. Maurizio asked.

“Oh did Dustin not say? He invited me over to dinner today. He must have not had enough time to tell you,” Patrick gulped and Dustin walked over to help relieve him from what seemed like unending nerves.

“Sorry dad I was just about to tell you,” Dustin smiled at his dad innocently. “Come on inside Patrick.”

Dustin grabbed Patrick’s wrist and led him inside, Dustin’s father simply shrugging and walked back into the kitchen.

“Honey, Dustin invited a friend over. I’ll grab another plate,” Mr. Maurizio said before opening the cupboard to grab another plate for the table and more silverware. Dustin led Patrick into the dining room and saw his mother hide an expression of surprise.

“Why Patrick honey! I never expected you to show up this evening. I hope you haven’t eaten already,” Mrs. Maurizio gestured to the seat across from her. “You can sit right there next to Dustin.”

“Thank you Mrs. Maurizio,” Patrick sat down and fiddled with his jacket. Dustin sat down in the chair beside him and placed his hand on Patrick’s underneath the table to try and calm him nerves.

“Alright dear, why don’t you finish grace?” Mr. Maurizio asked and reached out for Dustin’s hand. Dustin took it while he and Patrick had to let go below the table before bringing their hands up and joining them back together on the tables surface.

“Bless us lord and this food we are to eat. We pray and thank you and hope that it will keep us strong. If any may be hungry, hurt, or in need, we hope you send them to us so we can share our food and the gifts you have given us. Amen,” Mrs. Maurizio finished and the four began dividing the food up, some ham and mashed potatoes landing on each of their plates.

“So Patrick, you’re a part of the football team right?” Mr. Maurizio made light conversation.

“Uh, yea. I’m the linebacker. I’ve had a couple scouts tell me I’m really good,” Patrick responded and nibbled on the ham in front of him.

“Nice! We tried to get this one into football when he was in grade school. Was pretty good for a while until he decided to quit!” Mr. Maurizio laughed. “He stopped a year later when he realized he kept getting tackled.”

“Daaad,” Dustin protested and Patrick laughed.

“Well he’s really smart now and that’s much better,” Patrick smiled and seemed to relax a little.

“That’s very nice to say Patrick,” Mrs. Maurizio smiled and Patrick stuffed another piece of ham in his mouth. For a while they ate in silence until Patrick nudged Dustin under the table. Dustin looked at him in confusion then realization as he swallowed his mash potatoes.

“Um, mom, dad. I actually invited Patrick over because we wanted to tell you guys something,” Dustin gulped.

“Oh are you two doing better? Giving things a shot?” Mrs. Maurizio smiled knowingly and shared a glance with Mr. Maurizio.

“Yea how did you know?” Patrick responded in surprise as relief suddenly flooded through not just himself, but through the bond as well.

“Oh son, we were just like you when we were your age, as cliché as it sounds,” Mr. Maurizio laughed and patted Dustin on the back. “I’m really glad you two are doing ok.”

“Thanks dad,” Dustin smiled wide and grasped Patrick’s hand again, this time above the table.

The four of them ate in silence for the rest of the meal. Dustin and Patrick felt calm wash over the bond again and enjoyed the uninterrupted peacefulness it provided. Once they had all finished eating Dustin stretched out and Patrick stood, beginning to gather up his plate and Dustin’s as well.

“Easy there son, we can worry about cleanup later. Would you like to join us in the den to watch some TV or do your parents want you home soon?” Mr. Maurizio waved a hand to stop Patrick who froze like a deer in headlights for a moment. Dustin felt the calmness in the bond break as fear bled through and he looked up to see if Patrick was ok.

“Ah ok. N-no I should actually get home. It’s p-pretty late. Sorry,” Patrick stuttered and rubbed the back of his neck.

“No worries honey, maybe another time then!” Mrs. Maurizio stood and moved around the table, giving Patrick the biggest hug the tiny woman could muster. Mr. Maurizio got up and joined them, a group hug forming quickly. Dustin laughed and joined them, hugging what he could still reach of Patrick. When they all pulled away they noticed Patrick was crying and Dustin quickly moved forward.

“Are you ok?” Dustin grabbed the sides of Patrick’s arms gently and the taller man nodded.

“I’m sorry I don’t mean to tear up it’s just- I’ve never met a family like yours. I’m so happy to have met you both,” Patrick nodded at Dustin’s parents, one of which who was also starting to cry a little. Mrs. Maurizio waved goodbye as she started to clean up the table and take things to the sink.

“It’s ok son, you’re a part of the family now. You have a wonderful night,” Mr. Maurizio sniffed and patted Patrick on the back. Dustin laughed and started to lead Patrick to the front door.

“I really wish you could stay a little longer, but I can understand wanting to get home,” Dustin grinned and hugged Patrick before pulling open the door.

“Yea me too. Oh- here. This is my address for tomorrow,” Patrick pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to Dustin.

“Hey I thought you said you didn’t have any paper,” Dustin wiggled the tiny sheet and Patrick snorted.

“Pfft, shut up. See you tomorrow Caddy?” Patrick froze as he said the old nickname and glanced at Dustin a little fearful.

“See you tomorrow lineback,” Dustin smiled and pulled Patrick in for one more hug before letting him go and watching as he walked down the street to his truck. Dustin eventually closed the door and held the piece of paper close to his chest in anticipation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys so sorry about the small hiatus there, i'll be back to updating regularly. Eh, hopefully. Heh, don't worry I'll do my best.


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